tfrazier

Hi all,

I moved to the Raleigh area from Vermont about 6 weeks ago...Biig climate change..

Two weeks ago I bought an 08 GT/CS conv. I bought it from Mississippi and had it shipped up sight unseen. I love it and hope to drive it for 20 years. In the 1980s I owned a '67 Fastback (CS lookalike/clone), also a 1984 GT. I took about a 20 year break from my Mustang passion to have 3 kids and get them thru the young years...Now I'm back and lovin it (btw, so are the kids)

Anyway, I have a question about winter storage. Do folks in Raleigh store their mustangs and/or convertables? Back in VT it could be below zero for weeks and lots of salt would be thrown on the roads. Not to mention with an average of only 58 days of sun a year, it was just not a good place for a convertible or any nice car actually.

I know winters will be milder here, but do folks still drive cars they're passionate about in the winter here? Or is it bad enough for a streach that they should be stored...If storage for the winter, what months would be considered the ones to store them for? Snow on the ground from Halloween to Easter back in VT

I'm trying to decide if I should keep my paid for car from VT to drive as a winter car, or if I should just sell it because I'll be driving the Mustang year round...

Thanks for any advise you may have, it's really nice to have found you all!

Tim

SHOHORSE

Tim.. Raleigh averages 7" of snow a year. I'm in Charlotte and we average 5.5" a year.
Down here It's not the snow you should fear, but other drivers. I'm a native of this area so be warned. If the weather man even mentions snow and you are short of milk and bread ya better get your butt to the store, which is kinda neat because that's where everybody else is.LOL

FloRida Livin

Hey Tim-
welcome to the forum and congrats on your move and your dive back into Mustang world!
IMO I sure would be driving the car year round. Winters are VERY mild here- but we do have the occasional 40 degree night- and I drive top down ALL THE TIME- unless its raining. Crank the heat, through the WindBlocker on (shameless plug, I know) and have fun. Your winters there cant get TOO much worse then that, right? Or am I all wet?
Regardless- little or no snow? Drive the car bro!

lpcard

Welcome to the area Tim! I have a 2011 GT/CS 'vert that I'm pretty fond of. I just throw the cover over mine, I don't have a garage. I'm about 20 miles north of Raleigh, in Franklinton, and I don't drive mine in the nasty weather because I'd rather my Baja got hit than the 'stang.
It snowed 5 times last winter and that was a rough one. We got a pretty bad storm about six years ago that shut everything down for a while. Being from Vermont you would probably wonder what the big fuss was all about, but believe me you don't want to be out in it because these idjits can't drive in the slick stuff. They treat the roads with a brine solution here that isn't as bad as road salt, but you sure do want to wash it off as quick as you can.
Shameless pitch: The local Mustang club meets the second Thursday of each month at the Golden Corral in Cary (I missed tonight's meeting, parents in town) and we're having a car show in September. Check out the website, Heart of Carolina Mustang Club, it would be great to see you there!

tfrazier

Thanks for the responses, exactly the info I was hoping for...I'll sell the old VT car (after I fix the A/C, which was not a priority in Vermont). I work at home, and my wife is home with the kids so does 99% of the kid hauling - so I really only drive for sport which I guess makes it a no brainer to just keep the stang in the garage for the winter and drive it only on suitable days...No formal storage needed

Thanks for the info on the club meet, lp. I just put it my cal for 8/11 and will come on by. I saw your post 1st thing this morning and thought "note to self, checkout where the Golden Corral is in Cary"....About an hour later my wife was dropping me off at Crossroads Ford to pick up the stang after new tires and alignment and "hey, there's GC right there, practically across the street from Crossroads Ford"...what a coincidence

Thanks all, it feels real good to be here!

lpcard

Crossroads in Cary is our major sponsor, you should have seen the club "We Love Us" wall while you were there. It's between the receptionist's desk and the kiddie play area.
Looking forward to seeing you on the 11th, and yes that's where we meet! Follow the link to get to the club website and join the HCMC forums, there's another guy with a white '08 GT/CS but his is a coupe, we have another 07 or 08 GT/CS 'vert in the dark red, so with yours the GT/CS 'verts will be well represented!
Also, this forum is getting pretty active with the get-togethers, we just drove the Diamondback last weekend and had a ball. Hope to see you out there sometime, we could convoy to the next meet (or maybe the next one will be a bit closer to Raleigh).

lpcard

BTW...you're not afraid to drive a bit, are you?